When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

Interview / WTF
Aesop Rock and Dark Time Sunshine Will Give You a Haircut You'll Regret at the Fillmore

Ever find yourself fantasizing about receiving an extreme haircut on stage at The Fillmore while Aesop Rock performs a song? Well, that's precisely what's going down this Sunday when Aesop performs "Racing Stripes," a song about getting a bad trim, from his new Skelethon album. During the performance, one brave audience member will be invited on stage to get their locks clipped by support act Dark Time Sunshine (who have their own new ANX album to promote). Given that this isn't exactly normal behavior, we checked in with Aesop Rock and Dark Time Sunshine's Onry Ozzborn and Zavala to find out what they're doing and talk hip-hop haircuts.

How did the idea to give fans haircuts on stage come about?

Aesop Rock: I wrote a song called "Racing Stripes" on my latest record and it's all about getting your hair cut -- partly about the liberating feeling that comes with giving yourself an effed-up haircut, and partly about a friend of mine that used to give himself terrible cuts in order to keep himself in the house so he wouldn't procrastinate on his work. During rehearsal I said it might be funny to give someone a cut, but I think we all weren't quite sure if it would actually work. We figured we'd give it a shot, and so far every show has had a lot of people signing up. It's become a really fun part of the show that both the audience and the victim seem to get a kick out of.

The San Diego victim afterward

Did you have any reservations about the idea?

Onry Ozzborn: No reservations at all -- it sounded pretty fun.

Who actually gives out the haircuts?

Zavala: Me and Onry do all the haircuts. Aesop doesn't do any haircuts. He's doing the song about someone getting a haircut. He's performing while we're doing the haircuts.

How do you decide who gets the haircut?

Zavala: At the beginning of the show they have a sign-up table near the merch and then we bring the list up stage. It's usually like 20 people, so right before the song comes in, Rob Sonic goes through the list and picks one. It's kinda random.

Do any of you guys have any formal training in cutting hair?

Zavala: Ah, man, I'm bald, so I shave my head like every four days, so I'm pretty good at it.

What's the trickiest part about cutting someone's hair live on stage?

Aesop Rock: Well, luckily for me, I just rap. But I'd say the trickiest part is just getting the person to the stage: you never really know what you're gonna get, or how intoxicated the person might be. We've had really good luck, with a couple [of] minor exceptions. Once everyone is situated it's been going pretty damn smooth, I must say, all things considered.

Onry Ozzborn: The trickiest part is them moving during the song and lip-synching all the lyrics when I'm trying to do my line-work. It nearly always messes it up.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"